


Sound Waves

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, F/F, Humanstuck, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pesterlog, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-11-18 14:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11292657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Kanaya Maryam meets a violinist and falls for her instantly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love rosemary and slowburn fics, and the severe lack of those I found (there were a few, but most of them had it as more of a secondary relationship or just background) was surprising, so I decided to try my hand at writing a slowburn rosemary fic myself.   
> There's not really much else to say, other than that this will be long and it will definitely be slow. I'll try updating as consistently as possible. 
> 
> Thank you for reading this, I really appreciate it! :)

She fell in love the moment she heard her play.  
   
Opting out of lunch in the crowded, obnoxiously loud lunchroom with her friends so she could finish her soon to be due homework, Kanaya chose to camp out at the only spot she knew for certain would be quiet.  She camped out in the auditorium and set herself to work scribbling the second half of what was supposed to be a well researched essay but was turning out to be a study in plausible sounding, well worded bullshit.  She didn’t know why she’d even struggled so hard at it at first, most of her time procrastinating had actually been wasted away on useless, unnecessary research that she couldn’t even include in the actual paper.  Kanaya knew she shouldn’t have even bothered, this is what she always ended up doing with this sort of assignment.  It didn’t really matter what she wrote down, the teacher barely read these things, anyway.  
   
She was almost finished with her god awful paper, all she really needed was a good conclusion.  A good conclusion, her teacher was prone to say, was the difference between success and failure.  Kanaya sat in her chair in the back of the auditorium, tapping her pencil against her nose and waiting for the throbbing cramp in her hand to die down when the doors opened.  
The sound was startlingly loud and echoing in the large, empty room.  Kanaya jumped and turned to see who could possibly have come in to disturb her.  If it was a fellow wayward studier, she would leave them be.  If it was any of her friends coming to interrupt her after she had explicitly told them not to, well, she wasn’t going to hold back.  
   
The person who entered appeared to fit neither of these categories.  She entered, and though Kanaya was too far away from her to make out her features, she could tell from a glance that this girl with the short blonde bob wasn’t a friend of hers.  She also clearly wasn’t here to study, she carried no materials with her but a black case.    
   
Strange.  
   
The girl walked the steps down to the stage.  If she saw Kanaya, she made no indication.  Kanaya sank low in her chair and pretended to work on her paper anyway, just in case. She didn’t want to appear too nosy.  
   
The girl put her case down lightly on the stage and climbed up the edge as opposed to using another set of stairs.  She stood up and walked back stage, her shoes clicking with every step as she disappeared behind the curtain.  Kanaya’s heart sank as she realized that this girl, whoever she was, intended to practice her instrument in here.  The quiet atmosphere she had specifically come here for would be gone in a matter of minutes if this girl stayed.  
   
Should she tell her to leave and go practice her instrument somewhere else?  Preferably the band room?  It wasn’t like Kanaya had a monopoly on the auditorium, this girl had as much a right to be here as she did.  In fact, she might even have more of a right to practice here.  Being a performer, this was closer to her turf than it was Kanaya’s.  
   
 _But_ ….Kanaya argued to herself, she was here first.  Besides, she still hadn’t finished her essay, and it was due in less than twenty minutes.  
   
That was all that Kanaya needed to convince herself to make her leave.  She stood up and started walking down the steps two at a time.  She was halfway down when the girl returned from backstage, carrying a music stand and a page of what Kanaya assumed was sheet music.  
There was no way she didn’t see Kanaya now, but still she didn’t acknowledge her as she crossed the stage and set up.  
   
From where she was now standing, Kanaya noticed that the girl looked vaguely familiar.  She had classes with this girl.  She had seen her roaming the halls in the morning.  She knew her, or rather she knew of her.  The face was familiar but the name escaped her.  
   
Instead of being a comforting thing, this made Kanaya less confident about her choice to ask the girl to leave.  Whatever impression she made on this girl would be gone, and her image would be one of a rude person who was too selfish to share such a huge space with just one person.  Despite the fact that there was more to the situation than that and that any reasonable person would understand, she was still hesitant.  
   
That hesitation lasted long enough for the girl to finish setting up and remove her violin from its case.  
   
“Excuse me,”  Kanaya finally said, her voice quiet, but still firm despite that, “but-”  
The girl either didn’t hear her or was deliberately ignoring her now.  Kanaya didn’t get the chance to find out which before it happened.  
   
The girl began to play, and Kanaya was _gone_.  
   
Words weren’t enough to describe the way that first note pierced her through.  It was like an awakening.  It was like she had been held underwater for so long and was only now allowed to surface and taste the sweet oxygen on her tongue.  She was breathing.  For the first time, she was breathing.  Then when the waves came and engulfed her again, she realized something new.  She could breathe underwater.  
   
She was breathing in soundwaves.    
   
Taking her eyes off of the girl and her skillful hands was impossible.  Her every movement was enticing, from the way she leaned her chin against her violin to the way she slid the bow so gracefully over the strings.  She played like it was nothing, and maybe for her it was nothing.  Kanaya didn’t know, but she was left in awe of her for the image of effortlessness.  
   
Kanaya sat on the step and was transported somewhere else, somewhere far away from the auditorium and her essay and her classes.  Somewhere otherworldly.  Somewhere more...intimate.  In this moment it was just her and the violinist, alone in the vast emptiness of the universe.    
   
It was the most amazing thing Kanaya had ever experienced.  
   
The girl played, and Kanaya fell in love instantly.  
   
The performance was finished just as suddenly as it had begun, and Kanaya felt her heart crack.  Suddenly everything collapsed back into tuneless reality.   The girl started to pack her things up, the violin was placed gently back into its case, the clasps snapping shut.  It was a sharp enough sound to jar Kanaya out of her current state.    
   
Kanaya didn’t move as she watched the girl replace the stand and the sheet music back where she’d found it.  She couldn’t really bring herself to move yet, though she knew she should.  What time was it now?  Lunch had to be over soon.  
   
Kanaya hadn’t finished her essay yet.  
   
She shot up just as the girl climbed down from the stage, carrying her case in one hand.  The girl climbed the stairs and brushed past Kanaya.  
   
It may have been wishful thinking on her part, but Kanaya could have sworn that her hand lingered on her arm longer than it should have.  She glanced over at the girl as she walked by.  The girl was looking back at her, too, and they shared yet another moment of strange intimacy that made Kanaya’s breath catch in her throat.    
   
Now that Kanaya saw the girl up close, she was unable to tear her eyes away from her.  A name arose from her memory with the color of the girl’s eyes.  There was only one girl she knew of with eyes like that.  
   
Rose.  Rose Lalonde.  
   
Rose Lalonde smirked at her and broke the silence.  “I hope you enjoyed the performance, Kanaya.”  
   
Kanaya opened her mouth, but the bell rang and interrupted her before she could reply.  Rose winked and turned away from her, ascending the rest of the stairs and heading for the door.  “I’ll see you in class.”  
   
Then she was gone, and Kanaya was alone in the auditorium like she’d wanted.  Only now she didn’t have time to finish the homework she’d come here to do in the first place.    
   
She gathered up all of her homework and shoved it back into her backpack, leaving only her essay out.  Hopefully she could scribble out a few quick sentences before class began.  
   
Kanaya ran to her English class and sat at her desk in the back.  She tried to come up with something, anything, to write down, but came up with nothing.  She was too distracted by the back of a certain blonde head several seats ahead of her.  
   
Kanaya Maryam had never really thought about what kind of person Rose Lalonde was before, but now she was completely enthralled by the idea of her.  She wanted to learn more about this mysterious, violet eyed violinist she’d had such a deep yet fleeting moment with.   There was so much she didn’t know about her, so much she _wanted_ to know about her.  Kanaya had never been so intrigued by another person in her whole life, and there was no way she would be able to ignore the intense feeling of curiosity blossoming in her chest.  
   
Whatever strange path this information would take her down, Kanaya was certain it would end in a fantastic conclusion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, chapter two! :D  
> I'm sorry about how long this one took, I thought I was going to be done yesterday, but I got a little sidetracked. On the bright side, it's a long chapter!   
> This one's mostly just Kanaya talking about her "not crush" on Rose and about blogs, I guess. That was mostly just an excuse to start writing pesterlogs next chapter, I don't actually know anything about blogs and it'll probably never come up again.   
> Anyway, I hope you like it!

Kanaya Maryam sat crosslegged on the floor and scrolled through page after page of old posts on the internet. Apparently, Rose Lalonde ran a blog. This wasn't all that surprising, given that a lot of people seemed to be running blogs these days. As far as blogs went, this one was somewhat boring.

"So, are you just here to use my laptop, or am I actually going to have to bother trying to entertain you at some point?" Karkat asked impassively, drawing Kanaya's attention away from Rose's bio page. "I'm genuinely asking."

"Sorry." Kanaya smiled guiltily. 

Both of them were sitting on the floor in Karkat's room. The two normally spent a lot of time together, so Kanaya being in his room was nothing short of typical. What was a bit atypical in nature about this visit was how she had practically zoned out as soon as she was given permission to use his laptop. 

"Don't get me wrong, I don't really care. I just need to know if I'm going to have to put my book down anytime soon." Karkat said, holding up the book he was currently in the midst of reading. He was using his thumb to keep his place. "What are you looking at, anyway?"

"Nothing." Kanaya replied quickly. She tried to find a way off the page before Karkat could see it. Unfortunately, Karkat's internet was too low speed for her to get off the page in time. Karkat leaned against her and looked over her shoulder at what she was doing.

"What's with the sudden interest in Rose Lalonde?" Karkat asked curiously as he pointed to a selfie of Rose with her cat. 

Kanaya tried her best to feign ignorance. No, she had _not_ googled Rose Lalonde's name and immediately started looking through her blog. What a ridiculous claim that was! "What are you talking about?"

"You're ass deep in her blog, Kanaya. You wouldn't do that if you weren't interested in her. Which leads me back to my original quandary." He said, laying his book down on the floor. Whatever Kanaya was doing, it now hand his full attention. "You've seen Rose before, it's not like her being attractive is news. So, what the fuck gives? Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"N-no," Kanaya shook her head and tried to fight the blush burning her face, "nothing happened."

"Your face says otherwise." Karkat said, pointing out the color on her face she had failed to suppress.

"Nothing." She repeated vehemently. A quick glance at Karkat proved he still wasn't buying this. She sighed. "Okay, something. Something happened. You know how I wasn't at lunch today?"

"And you threatened to kill me with a sharp pencil if I bothered you at all? No, I completely forgot." He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Go on."

"There I was in the auditorium, just minding my own business, when in walked Rose Lalonde. I was going to ask her to leave, probably by threatening her in a similar manner, when she climbed up onto the stage and unexpectedly started playing the violin. I was so surprised that-"

"Wait, why were you surprised?" He asked, "Rose has been first chair violinist since last year. Did you not know that, Kanaya?"

"Well, no. How would I know that, Karkat? I'm not involved with the orchestra at all. As I was saying, she started playing the violin, and I was so surprised that I found myself at a loss for words. I don't think I'd ever heard something so beautiful in my life, much less while at school. Then when she was finished playing, she asked if I enjoyed the performance, and then she winked at me!"

"Shit, she winked at you?" Karkat replied, raising his eyebrows. "You should ask her out."

"It was a very suggestive wink, Karkat." Kanaya defended weakly.

He shook his head. "No, I'm agreeing with you. You should take a chance, ask her out. You're obviously interested."

"I...don't really know if I want to ask her out." Kanaya admitted. "I just want to know more about her. Maybe attempt befriending her at some point."

"Befriend her?" Karkat ran a hand through his messy hair as he considered her admission. "Okay, yeah. You can work your way up to it, there's no harm in that."

Kanaya let out a sigh of frustration. "Karkat, I just said-"

Karkat held up a hand dismissively. "I know what you said. Lies, lies is what you said. But if you'd rather be in denial about what's obviously more than a friend crush and a thirst for information, then who am I to stop you. Do whatever you want for now. I'll be waiting right here when you come to your senses and realize the obvious."

"I appreciate your support, Karkat, but that doesn't change the fact that there'll be nothing to realize!" She said as she continued to scroll through pages of photos and text posts. 

Karkat nudged Kanaya with his hip so he could better see the screen. "Are you at least learning anything interesting about your dream gal pal?"

"No," Kanaya admitted, her shoulders slumping, "nothing more than I already knew, or could have gleaned from a simple conversation with her. This blog is mostly vaguely dark posts and pictures of cats. There's little to no information about her on here! Her interests, her hobbies, her likes and dislikes, there's barely anything. All I would really know about her though this is that her name is Rose and she likes to mess with a user who makes a lot of shitposts."

"That's not surprising." Karkat snorts. "Of course you're going to learn jack shit from her main blog. She probably has a side blog."

"Why would she have a side blog?" Kanaya wondered aloud. 

"For all of her weird interests." He explained. "Rose doesn't strike me as an open fucking book, Kanaya. She's not going to clog her friend's feeds with all of her creepy personal interests."  
Kanaya couldn't help but feel personally attacked by that comment. She only had the one blog and she used it as a platform for all of her favorite subjects, including fashion and particularly bloody vampire novels. Both were subjects none of her friends were interested in. "She probably runs separate blogs for all of her major interests, none of them affiliated with her main boring as hell one."

"That's stupid. It's _her_ blog, she should feel free to put whatever weird thing she wants on it." She protested. "Damn what anybody else thinks about it."

"That's the thing, Kanaya. She probably _does_ give a damn what other people think about her. She probably just wants to protect her image as a "mysteriously aloof violin prodigy" and obviously some of her interests are so far off that fucking mark that she can't have them anywhere near her or risk losing what little reputation she's managed to culminate with every post she makes about that shit."

Kanaya was about to offer a rebuttal when their conversation was interrupted by a voice from below. " _Karkat_!"

" _What_?" Karkat yelled back. When no reply came, Karkat sighed heavily and stood up. "I'll be right back, Kanaya."

He stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. Kanaya could still hear muffled shouting through the wood. She didn't pay it any mind aside from a quiet chuckle. Karkat's family were always a particularly noisy bunch, even with guests over. Apparently struggling with volume control was a familial trait. 

Karkat opened the door and popped his head in. "Dad wants to know if you'll be staying for dinner."

"Oh." Kanaya hadn't really thought about that, she had no idea what time it was or how much longer she was planning on staying. "No, I probably shouldn't."

"Okay." He steps back outside and closes the door again. After another loud exchange, Karkat came back in and sat down beside her. "Why are you doing this here, anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to do at your house?"

"You would think, but no." She shook her head. "There's no way Porrim or my mom wouldn't find out if I was doing this at home."

"How, though?"

"I don't know, but they have their ways." Kanaya's family always had an easy time of deducing her emotions, not that she'd ever been very good at hiding them to begin with. If Kanaya was being honest with herself, all it really took was a simple 'how was your day?' to make her spill everything. "It's bad enough with just _you_ thinking I have a crush on Rose, I don't need them having the wrong idea, too."

"So? What's going to happen if they know?" 

"Imagine if your family thought you had a crush on someone," Kanaya glanced over just in time to see Karkat grimace, "wait, I'm not done. Imagine that, only instead of your dad teasing you for a few days and then dropping the subject, he wanted to know about every interaction you've ever had with this person leading up to that moment. On top of that, imagine that Kankri didn't lecture you about hormones and how those can effect emotions and that you shouldn't act on them because of your age-"

"I imagine that all the time and it's blissful." 

"Imagine, instead of _all that_ , he started giving you pointers about sex. _Graphic_ pointers." She emphasized. "At dinner. That you didn't ask for."

"That's-"

"A little much? Yeah." Kanaya nodded. "They mean well, and I love them, but I'd rather they not know about this kind of thing."

"No worries, your secret crush on Rose Lalonde is safe with me."

"Karkat, I don't have-" She stopped midsentence. This was pointless, she was just talking in circles. There was no convincing him that she didn't like Rose. She was just going to have to accept that. "nevermind."

"So, what's your plan now that you know her blog has shit in terms of information about her?" He asked, as he watched Kanaya continue to scroll further and further down into the depths of Rose's blogs. "Keep scrolling until you hit the end?"

"I'm hoping she mentioned one of her interests in an early post, and then I was going to search through anything related to that until-"

"Until what? Until you stumbled onto her blog accidentally?"

"Essentially, yes." Kanaya admitted as she scrolled. So far, there was nothing helpful. She feared she was reaching the end.

"Kanaya, no offense, but that is the stupidest plan I've ever heard in my entire life. It's not even a plan! It's a portion of a plan that was conceived by a half brained moron in a drunken haze and barfed up the next morning, where it remained as a disgraceful, fetid stain on the carpet that's completely resistant to the majority of household cleaning supplies."

"It might be a bad plan," she was fully aware that it was _definitely_ a bad plan, "but I don't see you coming you coming up with better, Karkat."

"Have you considered maybe _talking_ to her?" Karkat asked, raising an eyebrow derisively.

"Karkat, that idea's even worse! I can't do that!"

"Why? Everybody knows the best way to learn more about someone is to fucking talk to them. Even if it's not the best way, it'll be a hell of a lot easier than trying to stalk her online." He had a point, it would be a lot easier to talk to her. But she couldn't, she just couldn't.

"I'm not trying to stalk her!" She refuted. "Anyway, I can't just _talk_ to her."

"And why the fuck can't you do that?"

She was already blushing again. "You know why."

"No, I really don't." He continued to press. "Why's that, Kanaya?"

"Well, you know," she was sputtering and red in the face with embarrassment, "I-I can't talk to her because-"

"Because?" 

Kanaya buried her burning face in her hands. "She's _so pretty_." 

Everything grew quiet in the room as Kanaya waited for her face to cool. She looked over at Karkat through her fingers. He was staring at her sympathetically.

"Kanaya," he said, taking over control of the laptop briefly. Kanaya put her hands down so she could better see what he was doing.

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

"I meant online."

"Oh." She layed her fingers carefully down onto the keyboard. "I guess I could do that."

Yes, talking online shouldn't be as much of an issue. Even though she still had to deal with the fact that she was talking to a cute girl, she had more time to compose her thoughts than if she were to engage in an impromptu face to face verbal exchange. The only problem now was, how was she going to start this?

"Hey" seemed too casual, "Good Evening" too formal. "Hello" seemed like a good place to start. She typed it out.

Hello

Then she deleted it. Hello felt like the wrong word for some reason. It didn't fit. 

Hi

Hi felt even worse. She sat there and stared at the screen, her fingers frozen on the keyboard. She already ran through every not ridiculous way she could think of saying hello, what was she to do now?

Perhaps this was the time for a ridiculous sounding option.

Yo

Yeah, that wasn't happening. She was left staring at the screen again, waiting for the right words to come to her. No inspiration came. She was at a total loss. It was frustrating, one of the benefits to talking online was that there was no possibility of becoming tongue tied, yet here she was with her heavy fingers unable to type out a simple conversation starter. She was at a loss for words. It was like her fingers were tied in the same clumsy knots as her tongue.

Karkat's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Holy shit, Kanaya, you've been staring at that screen for three fucking minutes. If you don't type something soon, I will."

Kanaya was fully aware that that was supposed to be a threat, but... "Would you mind doing that?"

"Doing what?" She slid the laptop over to him. "Oh. Yeah, okay. What did you want to say?"

"Just tell her hello." Kanaya mumbled, embarrassed by her need to dictate her words since she couldn't seem to write them herself. "But don't use hello, use a better word. Hello looks stupid."

He snorted at her last statement. "Okay. Is that all?"

"That should be it, yes." 

Karkat typed and then slid the laptop back over to her. "How's that?"

Hey

Kanaya was surprised to find that "Hey" looked surprisingly okay. Perhaps she'd spoken too quickly when she said the word was too casual. At any rate, it seemed fitting enough. Kanaya looked at it and verified that there was nothing she wanted to add to that. Just the simple "Hey" would be enough, she thought. She swallowed and pressed send.

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

GA: Hey

There it was. No taking it back now. She let out a shaky breath. Now all she had to do was wait for a response. 

The longer she waited, the lower her heart sank in her chest. There was no reply, and she had a feeling that there wasn't going to _be_ a reply any time soon, if at all. She probably had other people to talk to who started conversations off with more than just "Hey". 

Maybe she needed to write more. It's not like she gave Rose a lot to work with. She started typing.

I Am Sorry To Bother You At This Time But

But what? Kanaya had no idea where she was going with this statement. She just wanted to talk to her, get to know her better. Could she put that?

But I Was Wondering If You Wouldnt Mind Talking

She shook her head. "If you wouldn't mind talking"? That sounded forced. She deleted it.

"Kanaya, what are you doing?"

She didn't respond. She had to focus on what she was going to type.

I Was Wondering If You Wanted To Chat

No. That didn't sound right, either.

I Was Wondering If You xcv,nm jnkhzddcgb

Karkat threw his hands over the keyboard before she had a chance to type anything more. 

"Karkat, move! I'm trying to type!" She tried pushing him away, but he was staying stubbornly in place.

"No! One message was enough!" Kanaya manged to wrench his hands off the keyboard and began typing furiously.

I Was Wondering If You Would Like To Discuss Some Things Wihai4fubhya

"Karkat, stop!"

"No, _you_ stop! You don't need to send another one, she'll respond to that eventually!"

Kanaya took her hands off the keyboard and looked down at her lap. "But what if she doesn't?"

"If she doesn't, then...we'll try something else." He said. "And I'll buy you lunch tomorrow."

"Free food does sound tempting." Kanaya replied as she deleted the disaster that was her second message attempt. "Do you really think she'll respond?"

Karkat shrugged. "She'd be an idiot not to."

They waited, and as more time passed it became clear to Kanaya that Rose Lalonde was, by Karkat's standards, an idiot and Karkat was going to have to buy her lunch tomorrow. Her eyes drifted away from the laptop and its lack of response over to Karkat's alarm clock. It was 6:40.

Kanaya stood up. "I should probably be getting home."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

"No." Kanaya shook her head. "I'm okay, thanks."

Kanaya walked down the stairs and to the front door, slipping her shoes on and picking up her backpack. The weight of it reminded her that she had homework she probably should have been doing instead of...whatever it was she'd been doing today.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Karkat." She said as she slung the backpack over her shoulders. "I'll text you when I think of what I want for lunch."

The sun was already starting to set when she started walking. It wasn't too far, just a couple of blocks, but with her backpack weighing her down it usually took her a few extra minutes to get home. Unfortunately, it was too far into fall to enjoy the scenery. All the leaves were either gone or sodden on the ground, and everything else was brown and dead. It wasn't a pretty sight, and she doubted it would be pretty again until winter came and everything was covered in snow. She dug her phone out of one of her backpack's pockets to keep herself busy while she walked.

Her mom had texted her several times asking her where she'd been, and Kanaya felt instantly guilty. Usually she let he mom know that she was going to the Vantas's ahead of time, but she'd been so preoccupied that it slipped her mind. Fortunately, her mom knew her well enough that she must have texted Karkat's dad to ask if she was there, because the texts asking where she was ended a half hour later and were replaced with questions about if she was going to be eating at home or not.

Kanaya thought about answering, but she was so close to home now that there really wasn't a point to it. She was about to put her phone away when it buzzed. She looked at it again and grinned. Something unexpected had happened.

Rose Lalonde messaged her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!   
>  I don't know how long chapter three will take because it's mostly going to be pesterlogs, I think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably could have been better but it's been awhile since I've done pesterlogs. I still really like them, though.  
> Everybody else is probably really good at juggling conversations with more than one person without accidentally ignoring everyone else or being quiet for long periods of time. I personally suck at it, and because I'm a terrible person so does Kanaya.  
> Also Porrim and the Dolorosa are in this one! It's brief and I'm guessing not very in character but they made an appearance so there's that.  
> I hope you like this chapter! :D

TT: As a rule, I don't generally respond to handles I don't recognize, but you've caught me at a good time. Or, to be more literal, you caught me at a time when I would like a distraction.  
TT: Before we begin this discussion, do you have a name, or is your handle enough to refer to you as?

Kanaya stopped walking and stared down at her phone. It was Rose! Rose was messaging her back! She couldn't believe it! She had to tell someone!

grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GA: Karkat  
GA: Karkat  
GA: Karkat  
GA: Okay Its Clear To Me Now That Youre Busy So I Will Just Let You Know  
GA: Rose Messaged Me Back  
GA: Your Wallet Is Safe For Another Day  
CG: HOLY SHIT, REALLY? SHE RESPONDED?  
GA: Oh So Youre Not Busy You Were Just Ignoring Me Thats Okay I Understand  
CG: I'M NOT IGNORING YOU, I'M SUPPOSED BE HAVING "FAMILY DINNER TIME". I'M TECHNICALLY NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE MY FUCKING PHONE AT ALL, BUT DAD AND KANKRI ARE HAVING SOME SORT OF DEBATE THAT I COULDN'T GIVE LESS OF A SHIT ABOUT, SO HERE WE ARE WITH ME REVELING IN THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION AND RISKING MY PHONE'S LIFE BY TALKING TO YOU.  
GA: Well As Long As Youre Risking Something Then Im Happy  
CG: ENOUGH ABOUT ME, ROSE RESPONDED? WHAT DID SHE SAY?  
GA: She Said I Caught Her At A Good Time And That She Was Willing To Talk  
GA: Then She Asked If I Had A Name Or Did I Prefer Grim Auxiliatrix  
CG: OKAY, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PROMISING START. THEN WHAT DID SHE SAY?  
GA: What  
CG: WHAT DID SHE SAY AFTER YOU TOLD HER IT WAS YOU?  
GA: Wait Here A Second

Kanaya couldn't believe how stupid she was being. She was so caught up in telling Karkat all about how Rose had messaged her back that she hadn't bothered to reply herself. She switched back to her conversation with Rose, which had continued on one sided in her absence.

TT: It's alright if you don't want to tell me your real name. I can only assume your silence is caused by your attempts to design a realistic sounding pseudonym for your internet persona. I will be frank with you, though, grim Auxiliatrix is quite the mouthful. Do you mind if I call you GA, or is that too infantile for you?

Yes, she should probably respond soon or else suffer being referred to as "Ga" throughout this entire exchange. There was no way she would be able to live down being called something like that. 

She was in the middle of typing out a response when she found herself outside her home. Kanaya was still typing when she opened her front door and suddenly found her screen flooded with text. All of her own typing was for naught.

TT: If this is another one of your fake accounts, Dave, I don't approve. Can't you pretend to be a normal person and talk to me directly for once without this whole ironic facade? You know you're going to talk to me through your own account soon anyway, you always do.

Kanaya sighed and deleted everything she had typed. Now not only did she have to tell Rose who she was and that she was sorry to have kept her waiting on a response, but she also had to assure her that she wasn't Dave.

Whoever Dave was.

Porrim walked out of the kitchen as soon as she heard her sister enter. "Kanaya, you're home. We were starting to wonder when you would get back."

Kanaya looked up from her phone distractedly. Porrim didn't sounded mad at all, and hopefully that was a good indicator of how their mother felt about this. "Yes, sorry. I meant to call, but I lost track of time."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw yet another wave of purple hit her screen. She glanced down quickly. 

TT: Ah, the silent treatment, that's a new one for you. Usually I can't get you to stop talking. Is this you attempting reverse psychology on me? Dave, I'm the one who told you about that, it's not going to work on me. You're going to have to find yourself a more gullible target. Might I suggest John?

She was going to have to respond soon, this one sided conversation was getting ridiculous. 

"It looks like you're still losing track of time." Porrim said. "Who are you talking to?"

This was exactly the question Kanaya had been fearing. "No one."

TT: Alright, Dave, if that's really how you want to do this, then I'll play along for now. I'll message you.

"You're clearly talking to _someone_ , Kanaya." Porrim chuckled. "You're such a bad liar."

She walked over to Kanaya and tried to look over her sister's shoulder. Kanaya tried to keep her phone out of her sister's range of vision.

"Come on, who are you talking to?" She begged, leaning onto Kanaya and reaching out to grab her phone. "I'll leave you alone if you tell me!"

Kanaya didn't buy that for a minute, Porrim was just as bad a liar as she was. However, it was becoming increasingly clearer that she wasn't going to get out of this one without telling Porrim _something_ to get her off her back.

"Karkat." Kanaya replied, quickly switching conversations on her phone so the screen was full of his caps locked gray text. "I'm talking to Karkat."

"But you just left Karkat's, why would you be talking to him?" She asked, finally releasing her sister. 

"He remembered something he wanted to talk to me about." Kanaya shrugged, stashing her phone away before Porrim had another chance to look at it. "It couldn't wait."

"Really?" Porrim raised an eyebrow quizzically, unconvinced. "It couldn't?"

"No, no it couldn't. It was time sensitive. Now if you'll excuse me, Porrim, I was in the middle of a conversation."

"Oh, don't mind me. Go right on ahead. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you and "Karkat's" conversation." She smirked.

"I'm about to go right on ahead. I'm going to go right on ahead to my room." Kanaya replied, sneaking over to the stairs. "Call me down when dinner's ready."

Kanaya hoped it was soon. She'd skipped lunch in favor of that essay, so she hadn't eaten since breakfast. Not that she was going to tell her sister that, because then she would ask why she hadn't eaten while she was at Karkat's, at which point she would have to reveal that she'd been...busy...with other things and hadn't actually thought about food really until she'd gotten home.

Porrim nodded. "Will do. Have fun talking to "Karkat"."

She winked, and Kanaya did her best to keep her face as blank as possible. "I will. I'll tell Karkat you said hi."

Porrim laughed and then turned on her heel, disappearing back into the kitchen. Kanaya ran up the rest of the stairs and to her room, slamming the door behind her. She was desperate for some privacy, she wasn't sure what her expression would reveal once she actually started talking to Rose.

She flopped onto her bed and traded her phone for her laptop. She typed faster on an actual keyboard, and this way she could have both chats open at once.

She had new messages on both.

CG: SO, HOW'D IT GO? WHAT DID SHE SAY?  
CG: KANAYA?  
CG: KANAYA?  
CG: OH, NOW I GET IT. YOU'RE HAVING SUCH A GREAT CONVERSATION WITH ROSE THAT *YOU'RE* IGNORING *ME* NOW. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT'S FINE. JUST TELL ME HOW IT WENT WHEN YOU'RE DONE.  
CG: KANAYA I'M SORRY IT'S GOING TO BE AWHILE BEFORE I RESPOND. KANKRI SAW ME TYPING I THINK HE'S ON TO ME.  
CG: SHIT HERE HE COMES I'M GONNA GET A LECTURE AND MY PHONE TAKEN AWAY SHIT SHIT SHIT.  
CG: GOODBYE KANAYA, I'LL MISS YOU. TELL ALL OF OUR FRIENDS THAT I HATE THEM AND PLEASE KEEP THEM FROM BITCHING TOO MUCH AT MY FUNERAL.

TT: So it occurs to me that you are not Dave.  
TT: Tell me, stranger GA, who are you?  
GA: Im Sorry For The Delay In Responding I Promise There Was A Good Reason For It  
GA: Well No Not A Good Reason But It Was A Reason Nonetheless  
TT: And what reason would that be?  
GA: An Embarrassing One That I Would Rather Not Get Into  
TT: That still doesn't explain who you are or why you're messaging me, since you are apparently not Dave. At least tell me this much, do I know you? Perhaps an introduction is in order. From you, since you're the one who messaged me first.  
GA: Yes That Seems Fair Although I Would Like To Point Out That I Never Claimed To Be Dave You Reached That Conclusion All On Your Own  
GA: This Is Kanaya  
GA: From School  
GA: In Case That Wasnt Clear  
TT: Of course, Kanaya from school. I'm so glad you cleared that up so I wouldn't mistake you for the dozens upon dozens of other Kanaya's I know all across this globe.  
GA: You Could Know Other Kanayas  
TT: Do you know other Kanayas?  
GA: Well Not Personally No  
TT: Then what is the likelihood of me knowing another Kanaya?  
GA: I Dont Know I Barely Know You You Could Know Many Kanayas  
GA: Dozens Upon Dozens All Across The World As You Pointed Out Earlier  
GA: They Must Be Out There Somewhere  
TT: I suppose that's true. The likelihood of you being the only girl named Kanaya in the world is very low. However, I do believe you are the only Kanaya in town. Or at the very least, you are the only Kanaya I know of.  
TT: Now that we've established who you are, Kanaya, perhaps we can now solve the mystery of why you suddenly felt the urge to message me.  
GA: I Was Just On The Internet And I Saw You Were Online So I Thought I Would Stop By And Say Hello  
TT: So you just felt like saying hey to me on a whim.  
GA: Yes Thats Definitely What Happened

An abridged version of what happened, but still.

"Kanaya!" Porrim called up to her. "Dinner's ready!"

Kanaya considered not going downstairs immediately so she could keep talking to Rose, but she was too hungry to ignore the pangs in her stomach. She closed her computer and crawled off of her bed.

Though she was certain it was against her better judgement to do so, she took her phone back downstairs with her. As much as she didn't want her mother or sister finding out what she was doing, she also didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier. Unfortunately, her skirt didn't have pockets, so she had no choice but to carry it in her hand and hope neither of them noticed.

There was no way they weren't going to notice.

Kanaya wandered into the kitchen and found it empty, her family was already in the dining room. She had no idea what they were having for dinner, but whatever it was it smelled amazing and filled the room with warmth. She piled her plate high with food and went to join them. 

She put her phone down next to her food and turned it back on so she would have easy access to her conversation with Rose. It was only after she turned it on that she remembered she'd closed it on her chat with Karkat.

CG: DESPITE ALL OF KANKRI'S ATTEMPTS TO MURDER ME BY DRIVING ME INSANE THROUGH HIS INCESSANT TALKING ABOUT FUCKALL NOTHING WHICH FORCED ME TO SMASH MY HEAD REPEATEDLY INTO OUR SHITTY KITCHEN COUNTER IN ORDER TO DESTROY MY BRAIN CELLS BEFORE THEY SLOWLY ASPHYXIATED IN HIS BULLSHIT, I MANAGED TO ESCAPE HIM WITH A CRACKED SKULL SURPRISING SUM OF MY BRAIN CELLS INTACT.  
CG: HOW MANY, YOU ASK?  
CG: ENOUGH THAT I CAN PASS HIGH SCHOOL WITH FLYING COLORS, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO CARRY AN INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION ANYMORE.  
CG: THEN AGAIN, COULD I DO THAT BEFORE?  
CG: NO, NO I COULDN'T.  
CG: ANYWAY, IT SEEMS LIKE I'M STILL TALKING INTO AN EMPTY CHAT WINDOW. I THINK I'M GOING TO STOP AND WAIT FOR YOU TO ACTUALLY SAY SOMETHING SO THIS IS A CONVERSATION AND NOT JUST ME VENTING ABOUT RANDOM SHIT INTO THE UNENDING VOID OF THE INTERNET.  
CG: I HOPE YOUR CONVERSATION WITH ROSE IS GOING WELL. TELL ME ABOUT IT LATER.

Kanaya felt a bit guilty about not responding to him, but she was still busy talking to Rose. She hoped he wouldn't mind waiting, it wasn't every day that she got to talk to a girl outside of their circle of friends. She said a silent apology to Karkat and switched chat windows.

TT: Well, now that we've established who you are and why you're talking to me, what exactly did you want to talk to me about?

That...was an excellent question. What _did_ she want to talk to Rose about?

Kanaya really wasn't sure, she didn't think she was going to get this far.

GA: I Suppose What Happened In The Auditorium During Lunch Today Is A Good Place To Start

Yeah, that seemed like a good place to start. 

"You're still talking to "Karkat"?" Porrim smirked.

"Yes." Kanaya answered quickly, scooting her phone dangerously close to the edge of the table so it was further away from her sister. "I am still talking to Karkat."

"What are you talking to him about that's so important?" Their mother wondered. "You rarely bring your phone down to dinner with you."

"I can't tell you what we're talking about. It's private."

"And time sensitive." Porrim chimed in. "Right, Kanaya?"

"Right." She agreed immediately, glancing over at her sister. She was grinning, and that gave Kanaya a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I knew it, you're not talking to Karkat!" 

"Of course I am!" Kanaya insisted. "Who else would I be talking to?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely not Karkat." Porrim replied. "Kankri was just complaining to me all about how he had to confiscate Karkat's phone because he wasn't paying attention during his latest lecture. He hasn't given him his phone back, so there's no way you've been talking to him this whole time."

That sounded...vaguely familiar. Kanaya thought she remembered Karkat mentioning something about getting his phone taken away. She felt her stomach drop. She couldn't believe she'd been caught with such little effort.

"So, who are you _really_ talking to, Kanaya?" Her sister inquired. "I bet it's a girl. What's she like? Do we know her?"

Kanaya felt herself start to blush fiercely. Before she could say anything in her own defense, her mother intervened.

"Leave your sister alone, Porrim, it's none of your business who she's talking to." 

Kanaya breathed a sigh of relief, she was so grateful to her mother for making Porrim drop the subject. "Thank you."

"As your mother, however, I think it's important that I know about the people in your life." She continued. "So, Kanaya, do you have a new friend I should know about?"

So much for dropping the subject.

"Can I finish my food in my room, please?" Kanaya wasn't in the mood to be teased by her family. "I have a lot of homework to do."

"You don't have to leave Kanaya," said Porrim, gesturing with her fork for her to stay seated, "we can talk about something else if this is bothering you that much."

"Thanks, Porrim, but I actually do have homework." Kanaya said as she stood up. It was true, but she had no intention of doing it. She turned her attention back to her mom. "Can I go upstairs?"

"Of course, just bring your plate down when you're done."

"Thank you." She picked up her plate and her phone and escaped back upstairs to her room.

Kanaya sat down crosslegged on the floor, her plate in her lap and her computer open in front of her. While Kanaya had been busy being questioned by her family, Rose Lalonde had continued to message her.

TT: Ah yes, the auditorium. I thought you would be wondering about that. Of course, I also thought all of your wonderings would be restricted to your friends' ears and that I could look forward to some interesting new rumors floating around the music room next week. So much for that, I suppose.  
TT: I went in there to practice. I am expected to practice every day, and though that isn't always the case I still do make a habit of practicing at least semi regularly. I knew I was going to be busy tonight, so I decided to get some practice in during lunch today.  
TT: There was a class practicing in the music room during that time already, so I was unable to play in there. The auditorium seemed the next best thing. Quiet, supposedly empty, close enough to my next class that I would only have to walk quickly to get there, it was a perfect fit. Obviously, you reached the same conclusion and beat me to it.  
TT: I didn't even realize you were there until you approached me. I was already up on stage and ready to begin, there was no way I was packing up my things and leaving like I assumed you'd wanted me to do.  
TT: So I started playing out of spite.  
TT: I was expecting you to say something once I'd started, but you stayed strangely quiet. I glanced over at you a few times while I was playing, and your face had this expression like you were experiencing the rapture and not listening to some high school girl play a very poor rendition of Mozart. It's been a long time since anyone's looked like that while I've played. It was very sweet.

Kanaya nearly missed her mouth when she read the last message. It hadn't occured to her that Rose would have actually looked at her during that performance. That description of what her face looked like was embarrassing and more than she'd expected.

She had no idea how to respond to this.

GA: Rose Called Me Sweet What Do I Do  
CG: SHE CALLED YOU SWEET?  
GA: Yes  
GA: Well Actually No She Said My Expression While She Was Playing Was Sweet  
CG: YOUR EXPRESSION IS A PART OF YOU! THAT COUNTS! CONGRATULATIONS, KANAYA, A GIRL LIKES YOU. YOU'VE SUCCEEDED WHERE SO MANY BEFORE YOU HAVE FAILED. GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK AND THEN ASK HER THE FUCK OUT.  
GA: Karkat Your Congratulations Are Premature She Doesnt Like Me  
GA: And As I Said I Dont Like Her Either We Are Just Two Girls Who Dont Like Each Other Talking Online  
GA: My Question Was How Do I Respond To That Do You Think A Thank You Will Suffice  
CG: I THINK ASKING HER THE FUCK OUT WILL SUFFICE.  
GA: Karkat I Said No Stop Pushing It Or I Wont Talk To You About This Anymore From Now On We Can Just Talk About Homework Or Something  
GA: Did You Do Your Math Homework Yet Karkat What Was The Answer To Number Five I Am Struggling With That One Explain It To Me In Detail  
CG: OKAY, I GET IT, I'M SORRY! DON'T MAKE ME TRY TO EXPLAIN THE TRAJECTORY OF THE FLYING FUCK I DON'T GIVE ABOUT MY MATH HOMEWORK.  
CG: EXCLUDING THE ASKING OUT, WHICH I WILL STOP BRINGING UP UNDER THREAT OF PRE CALCULUS, I THINK I NEED MORE INFORMATION BEFORE I CAN VERIFY THAT A THANK YOU IS PROBABLY ENOUGH.  
GA: She Said She Wasnt Expecting Me To Be In The Auditorium And That She Thought I Was Going To Try To Make Her Leave So She Started Playing  
GA: Then She Said My Expression Was One She Hadnt Seen In A Long Time And That She Thought It Was Sweet  
GA: So How Exactly Do I Respond To That Karkat  
CG: SHIT, KANAYA, THAT KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE FLIRTING IF YOU ASK ME. ARE YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT TO ASK HER OUT?  
GA: Math  
CG: FUCK, FINE, I'LL STOP. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, YOU SHOULD TELL HER HOW HEARING HER PLAY MADE YOU FEEL AND HOW IT MADE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW HER BETTER AND SHIT.  
GA: Thank You Karkat I Think I Might Actually Try That I Will Tell You How It Goes

GA: I Dont Know Much About Mozart But I Thought You Played Beautifully  
GA: Listening To You Play The Violin Today Was An Experience I Doubt I Will Soon Forget  
TT: Thank you.  
TT: Playing for you was also an experience and a pleasure.  
GA: It Also Made Me Realize Something  
TT: Oh? And what's that, Kanaya?  
GA: I Realized That Despite All Of The Classes Weve Had Together And All The Time Ive Had To Get To Know You You Are Still No More Than A Stranger I Share Space With Several Times A Day Aside From Your Name I Know Nothing About You  
GA: Up Until Today I Didnt Even Know You Played The Violin  
TT: I don't know anything about you either, Kanaya. It's funny that we both feel that way, given how we begin every new class with those ice breakers designed to force us to get to know each other better so we don't feel like our fellow classmates are strangers.  
TT: You would think the system would at least work for that.  
GA: Well This Is A Mistake I Would Like To Rectify  
TT: Yes, I agree. You seem like an interesting person, Kanaya, and I would like to get to know you better.  
TT: Should I google some of those "get to know you" ice breakers the teachers are always using? If we fill out at least a dozen I believe we will learn at least one mildly fascinating thing about each other.  
GA: No Dont Do That That Is Such A Waste Of A Search Engines Capabilities  
GA: Fuck The System I Want To Get To Know You Better By Myself  
TT: Yes, we'll talk to each other without the aid of a generic questionnaire. That will fuck the system up something terrible.  
GA: We Shall Rebel Through The Lost Art Of Conversation  
TT: Fantastic.  
TT: I hate to say this, Kanaya, but I think I will have to be logging off soon. Was there a time and place you wanted to schedule this little rebellion against our fucked up school system or do you just want to try to keep in touch through here?  
GA: I Was Thinking

She was _not_ thinking. She typed in the first thing that came into her head.

Perhaps Lunch Tomorrow  
TT: Lunch sounds perfect. I'll see you then.

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

Kanaya sat and stared at her computer for what felt like a lifetime. She couldn't believe her luck. Rose seemed genuinely interesting and had agreed to have lunch with her tomorrow. Kanaya had a feeling that if things kept going like this, she would have a new friend in no time at all. 

Speaking of friends, she'd told Karkat she would tell him how things went. Keeping her promise to both her family and Karkat, she discussed everything that happened with him while simultaneously working on some of tonight's homework.

It wasn't until halfway through her conversation with him that she realized she did need help with question five in her pre calculus assignment. She grit her teeth and didn't mention it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me so long to write, and for that I apologize. There's a few more characters in this chapter, and I'm hoping to get a few more introduced in the next few chapters, too. Hopefully by then we can get on to some real plot type of stuff.
> 
> I'm sorry about the delay, and I really hope you like this chapter.

The lunchroom was too loud for Kanaya's taste. By the time she made it out of class it was already overflowing with people. She hated eating at school for that specific reason. Well, that and various other reasons. One of those other reasons being the sorry excuse for food they served the students. She had no idea what the main dish today was supposed to be, none of her investigative skills had been able to help her determine what the pale lump masquerading as meat really was. 

"Kanaya, stop eyeballing my food." Karkat held his tray away from her. "I know it's gross, you don't have to give it that disdainful look."

"How can you eat that?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. "I can't even tell what it's supposed to be."

"Chicken, I think." He held his tray up closer to his face. "At least, I hope it's chicken. Anway, it's way better than your wilted leaves."

"There's nothing wrong with salad."

"Of course there's nothing wrong with salad, but there is something wrong with taking schoolground refuse and hoping no one can taste the unwashed dirt and pesticides when it's smothered under cheap vinagrette."

"It's not that bad." Kanaya replied unconvincingly. She looked down at her salad in its clear plastic container. Suddenly she didn't feel as hungry anymore. She was still determined to eat it, though. "Do you see Rose anywhere?"

"What, you two didn't make a plan to meet up?"

"No, I figured I would find her when the time came." She said with a shrug. They were almost at their usual table. "But the time has come and I can't seem to see her anywhere."

"Well, that's not surprising." Karkat says as he drops his tray onto the table. "Even with all the people who go out to lunch, this place is crowded as shit. It's hard to find one person when we're all packed like fucking sardines like this."

"I'm still going to look for her." Kanaya said resolutely.

"Tell me how it goes?"

"I'll think about it." She said, knowing full well that she was definitely going to tell him all about it the first chance she had. She wasn't sure who she was trying to kid at this point.

Kanaya wandered through what could only be described as a sea of people at high tide. This school wasn't designed to fit as many students as it now had into one area like this, and it showed. She tried her best to weave her way through the crowd without bumping into anyone while simultaneously scanning the room for any signs of Rose. It didn't help that the girl she was looking for was about average height and blonde. 

She thought she saw Rose sitting at a table in the very back of the room, but she wasn't certain it was her until she made eye contact. Rose looked up, and a thrill of electricity ran down her spine. Yes, that was her. There she was. She was waving her over.

The way she found herself able to maneuver her way past everyone felt like the Red Sea parted for her. She knew in reality it was just because she no longer felt any hesitation towards pushing past people to reach her goal. She made it to Rose's table in no time at all.

Rose was sitting at the table. She looked up and smiled at her, or maybe it was a smirk. It was hard to tell with her. "Hello, Kanaya."

Kanaya stood awkwardly, holding her salad in her hands and breathing heavily from how fast she'd made her way over. "Hi."

Kanaya just stood there, looking at the table and not moving. Rose was alone at the moment, and even though she had been waved over here it felt like she was intruding.

"Have a seat." She indicates the open seat in front of her with a plastic fork. She had also opted for the mystery chicken option.

Kanaya sat down in front of Rose without a word and opened up her salad. She and Rose were completely alone at this table right now, which was strange for Kanaya, who was more used to being surrounded by her noisy and overly talkative friends. Though the lunchroom itself wasn't quiet, being eternally charged with idle teen conversation at seemingly all hours of the day, it didn't seem to effect the table she was currently sitting at. She and Rose were in their own private bubble, either far above or far below the chatter. Either way, the sound didn't so much as touch them. 

In their little bubble, the barrier of which seemed to extend the length of the table, neither of them spoke. It was quiet, much too quiet for Kanaya's liking. Though it wasn't uncomfortable in and of itself, it wasn't something Kanaya was equipt to deal with. She was used to constant speech, whether she was being talked to and expected to engage in conversation, or talked at and expected to listen to a monologue without a word of her own. Quiet wasn't a situation she was used to, and it wasn't one she knew how to rectify with someone she barely knew.

So instead of doing anything, she picked at her salad with her fork and waited for Rose to make the first move. Rose seemed to have had the same thought as Kanaya, because she did nothing to break the silence. They were stuck in a game of nonverbal chicken that Kanaya had no idea how to get out of. She grit her teeth and stabbed her salad.

"Why are you so angry at your salad, Kanaya?" A voice behind her asked. "And why are you sitting in my seat?"

Kanaya could identify who it was before she even turned around. "Jade?"

Sure enough, Jade Harley stood behind her. Kanaya knew Jade from her Astronomy class, though she didn't know her well. She didn't even know Jade had lunch the same hour as her.

"Jade, there's plenty of room." Rose said. "It's not like these seats are assigned, just sit anywhere you like."

"Okay." She plopped down unceremoniously into the seat on Kanaya's right. "Sorry, Kanaya. I don't have a problem with you sitting there, I'm just not used to there being other people here."

"Oh, so it's usually just you and Rose who sit here, then?" Kanaya asked, then before she could stop herself, "Are you two-"

"Hey! Who's your new friend?" The voice behind her made her jump out of surprise. It was far too chipper and far too near for her taste. This one she didn't recognize.

She turned her head in hopes of putting a name and a face to an unfamiliar voice, but found herself unable to find a name for the boy with the glasses and bucktoothed grin who took the seat next to her. The lack of recognition must have shown on her face, because he was quick to put his bag lunch down and stick his hand out for her to shake.

"Hi, I'm John." He introduced. "John Egbert."

Kanaya took the hand offered to her and shook it once. "Kanaya Maryam."

"Oh, hey, I've heard of you! Rose was telling us all about you!"

"Was she?" It was Kanaya's turn to smirk now.

Rose looked away from her and back down to her food.

"Yeah, she was." John said as he began to unpack his lunch. "Mostly she was grilling all of us about making a fake account and pestering her only to text us all back later to tell us it was you."

"I couldn't believe that shit." Interrupted someone else, swooping into the seat beside Rose and directly in front of John. "I spend all this time and energy trying to mess with Rose and get in her head and shit and you fucking do it like it's nothing! All that hard work, wasted. What the actual fuck."

The new guy shook his head and sighed in disappointment. He was wearing a pair of very dark sunglasses the likes of which Kanaya had never seen worn by someone indoors before. They looked far too dark for him to see properly in.

"Yes, it appears Kanaya accomplished in an evening what you have been attempting for the better part of a lifetime." Rose smirks, jabbing the new boy in the cheek with her fork. 

It hit her suddenly who this new addition must be. "You wouldn't happen to be Dave, would you?"

"So my reputation preceeds me." He said as he rubbed at his cheek with his sleeve. "Fuck yeah, that's me. Dave Strider, coolest guy in this shit hole. Pleasure's all yours. So tell me, Kanaya, was it? How have you heard of me? What awesome thing that I've done has brought me to your attention?"

"Rose was annoyed with me and accused me of being Dave." She replied with a casual shrug. "I saw you and I took a guess."

John and Jade bust out laughing, which caught Kanaya off guard because she didn't think she'd said anything all that funny. She wondered how extreme the reaction would be if she actually tried to crack a joke.

"Did you hear that, Dave?" Jade said between giggles. "Your annoyance knows no bounds!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard her." He grumbled back. "Fuck you too, Kanaya."

"That's no way to treat a guest, Dave." Rose nudged him with her fork again, and he waved it away with his hand. "If you keep that attitude she might not want to come back."

So Rose wanted her to do this again sometime? Kanaya tried her best to hide her excitement about that. She managed to keep herself restrained to a small grin, one that hopefully wouldn't reveal just how happy she was at the prospect of doing this again.

"Hey, if she can't handle the heat, which there was very little of by the way, that was like, five percent heat, a little tiny baby candle flame, literally nothing to worry about. If she can't even handle the heat from a lit wet match, then she has no business being in the kitchen and should get the fuck out of the proverbial kitchen, by which I mean lunch room." 

"Oh, believe me, I can handle heat." Kanaya replied. "In this sense, at least. So far this is nothing like what I usually have to deal with."

She turned around and pointed back to the table she usually sat at. Though the view was partially obscured, she could still see the majority of her friends in the middle of what was jokingly referred to as a "spirited debate" but was really mostly just them yelling insults over each other until one of them gave in and shut up. She swore she could hear some of it from all the way back here.

"Shit, those guys are your friends?" Dave asked incredulously. "Those really fucking loud guys?"

"Yes, those are them." She nodded, turning back to her salad. "They're awful and I love them."

"That sounds like true friendship to me." Said Rose.

"It really is." Kanaya agreed. She picked at her salad and came to the decision that n ow was as good a time as any to ask a question that had been burning in the back of her mind since the day before. "Hey, Rose, what were you doing yesterday that had you so busy yesterday that you couldn't practice, but not too busy to talk to me? If you don't mind me asking, of course. That just seemed like a strange middle ground."

"No, I don't mind at all." Rose answered with a shake of her head. Rose looked her right in the eye, and Kanaya felt herself instantly incapable of looking away. She wasn't even sure if she could blink. "I had an appointment for my cat at the veterinarian yesterday. Jaspers, my cat, had been acting sickly as of late after I left him in Dave's care-"

"I said I'm sorry!" Dave interrupted. "I warned you beforehand that I don't know dick about cats."

"Yes, I know, and I forgave you." Rose replied. Her eyes didn't leave you for a second. "Begrudgingly, yes, but I forgave you. That's just what family does. As I was saying before my cousin so rudely interrupted me,"

Oh, so they were cousins. Not that Kanaya looked at both of them, she supposed that their familial relationship made sense. They did look somewhat similar.

"I left Jaspers in Dave's care while I was out for the weekend at a competition."

"She did really well!" Jade interjected.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't lie to the girl, Jade. No I didn't. I got fifth place."

"Yeah, out of a hundred." John said. "Fifth place is pretty good when it's out of one hundred, don't you think so, Kanaya?"

"Personally, yes, I think so." Holy crap, fifth out of one hundred? That was more than good, that was amazing! Kanaya felt her awe for the girl in front of her grow inside of her. Rose was so much more out of her league than she'd originally thought. "But if Rose holds herself up to a higher standard then I can understand why she wouldn't be happy with fifth place. There's always room for improvement."

"Thank you, Kanaya. You're right, there is always room for improvement. That's why I was in the auditorium in the first place, to try to improve while I could. Anyway, Jaspers was unwell, so I scheduled an appointment with a veterinarian. I had no idea how long it would take, but I knew I wouldn't be able to practice my violin while I was there. I did have enough time to talk while I was waiting for the vet to give my cat a diagnosis."

"How is Jaspers, anyway?" Jade asked.

"The vet assured me he'll be fine." Rose's eyes finally turned away from Kanaya's so she could address Jade. With those pretty purple eyes averted from her, Kanaya was finally capable of blinking again. The spell that held her transfixed was broken. She released a breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding. "He just ate something he shouldn't have. The vet said it should pass through him just fine, but I have been urged to come back if he continues to act different than usual."

"I'm glad he's okay." Jade said. "It'd be sad if you lost him just because you left him with Dave."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah, and Rose said she forgave you!" Jade continued. "Why don't you just leave Jaspers with me when you go out on competitions from now on?"

"Thank you for the offer, Jade, but I'm just not sure if Jaspers will get along with Bec." Rose replied as she cut a piece off of her chicken. "I'd rather take my chances with Dave than with a very large dog. At least I know Jaspers can take Dave in a fight."

"That's fair but still hurtful." Dave said. "Thank you for your brutal honesty, Rose."

"What else am I here for?" She shrugged.

There was a short lapse in conversation after that which you were still not used to. It became apparent as you looked around at the others at the table that this wasn't a common occurrance for them, either. It was a comfort to know that this was an entirely new experience for them, too, but it was less of a comfort to know that this awkward experience was a direct cause of your presence here.

John told a joke to break the tension and the conversation sprung up again around her. Kanaya still felt out of place with this group of people she still barely knew and was uncomfortable with contributing too much to the conversation. Instead she sat silently, eating her salad and listening to the four of them talk. They had a very interesting dynamic, and it became clear to her that they had known each other and had been friends for years, much longer than most of the people in this school had been. Definitely longer than most of her own friendships.

"Kanaya," Rose snapped her out of her reverie, and she was once again under the mesmerizing spell of her eyes as the conversation was steered back to include her, "we've discussed what I was doing in the auditorium several times, but you never told me why you were there. What were you doing there yesterday?"

Kanaya's hand moved to play with her salad, and she was only able to break her gaze away from Rose's to confirm that yes, she was out of salad and would have to find something else to do with her nervously fidgeting hands.

"Well?"

She settled for messing with a loose string on her sleeve. "I was just in there...doing homework."

It sounded so lame when she said it out loud. "Oh."

"Did you get it all finished?" John asked.

"No."

"Oh."

Before anyone had the chance to start a new conversation and save Kanaya from this awkward sounding exchange, the bell rang. Lunch was once again over much sooner than she had expected. She couldn't help but think the time she'd spent here had been a waste. The whole thing had felt uncomfortable and forced to begin with, and she hadn't even learned much more about Rose to make up for it. Kanaya wasn't sure if she ever wanted to try this again. Maybe she and Rose should just stick to online communication instead.

Kanaya stood up to leave.

She felt a hand on her arm. "Would you like me to walk you to class, Kanaya?"

Kanaya looked up, and there was Rose again, a soft smile on her face. She felt her heart skip a beat. Rose wanted to walk her to class.

No, she was reading too much into this. She and Rose shared the next class, it would make sense for them to walk there together. That was all. 

"I wouldn't mind it." Kanaya replied coolly.

They both started walking, depositing their trash on the way. There were plenty of students they had to weave through, it was like a repeat of what Kanaya had experienced earlier, only now they were going in the opposite direction. A human traffic jam. Somehow, though, she was able to keep near Rose the whole way there.

"I'm sorry if my friends didn't make you feel comfortable being there, Kanaya." Rose said when they were finally able to walk side by side. "I know you said you could handle it, but they can be a little much sometimes."

"No, it was fine." Kanaya waved her concern away with a shake of her head. "I do wish we could have talked more, though."

"I agree!" Rose replied as they reached the classroom. There were still a few minutes to go before class started, so they stood by the door to continue their discussion. "We should definitely try this again. I feel like all we did today was talk about me, and I don't feel like that was fair. I would love to talk more about you next time, Kanaya."

Kanaya was having such a hard time keeping herself from blushing these last few days, and Rose wasn't helping in the slightest. "That would be nice. I would like that."

"Perfect." If it was obvious how red Kanaya's face felt, Rose didn't bring it up. She was grateful for that. "Why don't we do this again tomorrow? With your friends this time?"

Kanaya's friends were a particularly loud and rowdy group, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to introduce Rose to them just yet. Yes, they were all fine people- in small doses. They were a great and really fun group- once you got to know them. Having Rose spend a half hour at a table with all of them and being bombarded by constant questions was not an ideal situation in Kanaya's mind. However, she couldn't think of a single way to say no that didn't sound like a lie.

"Sure, that should be fine. My friends. Tomorrow."

"Great." Rose smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

She walked into the classroom, and Kanaya followed close behind. She made eye contact with a friend of hers across the room as she went to her desk. Kanaya's friend looked over at Rose and gave an exaggerated raise of her eyebrow. Kanaya slid her finger across her throat in response. She was not going to say a word about this. Hopefully her friend would take the hint.

She doubted it. These were her friends she was talking about.

Kanaya took very little comfort in knowing her friend could ask Rose all she wanted to know about this and whatever other subject crossed her mind tomorrow at lunch.

There was no way this was going to end well. She was sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long....I wish I could say this was a one time thing, but sadly, this is probably going to become the case more often from now on because of school and things :(  
> I'll get chapters out when I can, I promise! For the meantime, I hope you like this one!

The sun set, the sun rose, and all the time between those two events Kanaya couldn't stop thinking about how much of a bad idea this was.

They say you can tell a lot about a person from the company they keep, and Kanaya wasn't certain what her choice in friends would say about her from an outsider's perspective. 

Nothing good, that's for sure. 

She could always message her friends and ask them to stay on their best behavior, but deep down she knew that wouldn't work. Yes, some of them would listen to her (Karkat, Feferi, Nepeta, Gamzee if he knew what was good for him) but some of them would definitely ask worse than usual as an act of rebellion (Vriska, Sollux, possibly Terezi depending) and everyone else was a wild card. No, getting everyone to behave reasonably wasn't something she knew she could succeed in doing. The only way she was going to have an hope of this going well in any sense of the word would be through the element of surprise.  
She couldn't tell any of them about this. 

GA: Rose Will Be Joining Us For Lunch Tomorrow

Okay, maybe she could risk telling one. 

GA: I Am Only Telling You This Because I Thought Youd Like To Be There Please Dont Tell The Others 

CG: OH SHIT, THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, KANAYA. I WAS JUST MAKING PLANS WITH GAMZEE TO GO EAT SOMEPLACE THAT SERVES ACTUAL FOOD AND NOT FETID GARBAGE BUT I CAN STOMACH THAT WASTE IF IT MEANS I GET TO WATCH YOU STUMBLE YOUR WAY THROUGH A CONVERSATION WITH A PRETTY VIOLINIST. 

GA: Between Your Interest In Romance And Your Hatred Of School Food I Cant Tell If Youre Being Sarcastic Or Not

CG: KANAYA, I WOULD CHOKE DOWN TWENTY SCHOOL MEALS IN A ROW AND SWALLOW MY OWN VOMIT IF IT MEANT I GOT TO BE PRESENT FOR THIS. BELIEVE ME, I MEANT EVERY MOTHERFUCKING WORD OF IT. 

GA: Well In That Case Thank You But That Will Be  Unnecessary 

GA: Maybe You Should Bring A Bag Lunch 

CG: I'LL THINK ABOUT IT. 

GA: You Said You Were Making Lunch Plans With Gamzee

CG: WELL CLEARLY I'M NOT NOW. 

GA: Tell Him To Go Out Without You 

CG: OKAY.

GA: And Convince Him To Take Eridan Too

CG: I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO.

The sun reaches its highest peak in the sky, and so too did Kanaya's nerves. All day she couldn't keep from fidgeting and playing out what she thought might happen in her head. The bell for lunch rang, and she dragged her feet all the way to the growing crowd that was supposed to function as a "line". As she stood there waiting for her food and being jostled by impatient people, a thought struck her so hard she felt the shock of it reverberating through her bones.

Oh god. 

This would all end horribly if Rose didn't like puns.  
A hand brushes along her back, and she stiffened from the sudden touch. 

"Hello, Kanaya." Rose smiled, suddenly appearing at Kanaya's right. "Care if I join you in line?" 

"Not at all." She replied, inching a bit to her left to make room for the other girl. "How has your day been?" 

"Good. Though if I'm being honest I think this would pass as a rather uneventful day if it weren't for our lunch plans." Rose admitted. "I'm excited to meet your friends."

"That's good," it was amazing to her that this was something to look forward to, because she'd felt just as nervous meeting Rose's friends yesterday as she was about Rose meeting her friends today, "I'm glad you're excited to meet them. Though I should warn you, they tend to make a lot of puns."

Rose raised an eyebrow, and it disappeared under the cover of her bangs. "So many that they need a warning label?" 

Kanaya rubbed her arm and looked away from her, averting her gaze by pretending to look ahead in line. "Yes." 

"Well if that's the case, this should be more interesting than I originally thought." She replied. "You never struck me as the type to have punny friends, Kanaya."

"With their kind of puns, I don't think anyone's really 'the type'." Kanaya muttered under her breath, shuddering at memories of certain discussions with her friends as she grabbed a tray from the stack.

"I do appreciate the warning Kanaya, but I'm sure they can't be that bad." She took a tray. "Not if they hang out with you." 

"Rose, you're too complimentary." Kanaya giggled. The food today looks as awful and bland as yesterday's, no surprise there. She shouldn't have taken a tray after all. 

"But no, you're right, they're not the worst group of people to spend time with. They're just..." she picked up a salad and inspected it carefully. It didn't look very good, either. "an acquired taste."

Rose picked up a slice of pizza and put it on her tray. "Not as acquired a taste as school food, I hope?"

"Oh, no. No, definitely not. They're better than school food, I can assure you of that much."

"Then I think we should get along fine." 

They exited the line together. Kanaya lead Rose through the crowds of other students and over to the table she usually sat at with her friends. The two of them had been closer to the front of the line, so there were only a few people seated when she reached the table. 

"Karkat, Nepeta." Kanaya nodded at both of them as she sat down.

They nodded back at her. Karkat had a crumpled brown paper bag in front of him. "Oh, so I see you did bring a bag lunch." 

"Damn right, I did. No way in fuck am I eating this shit again. I still have the taste of yesterday's gellified vomit lunch they dished out as chicken." Karkat replied, smacking the bag. "Of course, who knows what kind of disgusting garbage Kankri packed in here." 

She mixed her salad with her fork as Rose took the seat next to her. "Why would you let Kankri pack it?"

"Because I hate myself and he insisted." He started opening the bag. 

"Kanaya," Nepeta said as she opened her own bag. Apparently it was sack lunch day for everyone in the Vantas-Leijon household, "aren't mew going to inpurrduce us to your friend?" 

"Of course." She slid a glance over to Rose with a look she hoped could be easily interpreted as 'I warned you about this'. "Nepeta, Karkat, this is Rose. Rose, this is Nepeta and Karkat." 

"Mice to meet you!" 

"Hey." 

"It's nice to meet the both of you." Rose said as she picked up a napkin and laid it over her slice of pizza. It became orange and translucent with grease almost instantly.

Karkat paused in unpacking his lunch. "What the fuck are you doing?" 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Rose asked, carefully removing the grease soaked napkin and dropping it in the corner of her tray. "I'm removing the excess grease from my pizza." 

"But school pizza is just grease and cardboard." Karkat argued. "If you take out the grease, you're just chewing on a piece of flavorless colored wood for the next twenty minutes. It's already going to be sitting like a fucking rock refusing to be corroded by your stomach acid for the next century, why the hell would you do something like that to yourself, Rose, huh? Do you get some kind of sick thrill depriving yourself of any sort of sensory pleasure you could get from eating? Are you a masochist or some shit?"

"Yes, definitely." Rose nodded as she took a bite of her pizza. "You caught me, I am a huge masochist. That's obviously why I drained the grease from my pizza. No other reason. Really, what other reason could there be? There's no health benefit to it. Grease is the healthiest substance in the world." 

"I agree with everything whoever the fuck this is just said." Sollux dropped his tray down next to Karkat and pulled out a chair. "I read once that two thirds of any person's health diet should have some kind of grease base." 

"Wow." Kanaya replied. "I...don't know if I have the words to explain how wrong you are." 

"Then don't." He shrugged. He picked up his milk carton to open it, and Nepeta slapped it out of his hand. 

"Nepeta, what the hell?" 

"Sollicks, cat wasn't very nice." She scolded. "Apawlogize to Kanaya." 

"Or what?" Nepeta plucked the milk carton off his tray and opened it, holding it over the side of the table in a loose grip.

"Or I'll spill this and make you clean it up."

"Whoa, wait a minute, Nep. Let's not do anything too hasty."

Rose leaned over to Kanaya and covered her mouth with her hand to keep the others from hearing. "I think I may be lost, what's so important about this particular milk carton?" 

"It's two percent." Kanaya explained in a whisper. "Sollux has a weird digestive system, it can't handle anything other than dairy products with two percent fat." 

"I didn't know they served two percent milk here."  
"They don't, normally. Sollux's dad has to pay extra for the school to order it for him." 

"Why doesn't he just drink a different kind of milk? Almond, perhaps?" 

"No, I refuse to drink nut milk, whoever the fuck you are!" Sollux snapped, pointing accusingly at Rose. "Karkat, who is this and why is she whispering her opinion about dairy products with Kanaya?"

"Why the shit are you asking me?" 

Rose raised her hand to interrupt. "I'm Rose. And I take it your name is Sollux?" 

"Yes, it is. Now why the fuck are you here interrupting my regularly scheduled lunch period, Rose?" 

Rose's eyes slide over to Kanaya, and she smiled. "Curiosity." 

"Don't mew have something to say to Kanaya?" Nepeta drew his attention back over to her and tipped the milk carton so it was dangerously close to spilling. 

"Fuck, fine! Stop." Sollux grumbled. "Kanaya, I'm sorry. You can say whatever you want, whenever you want even if you don't know shit about what you're talking about. That's your right as a person who's not me. Spout whatever shit you want, I don't care. Can I have my milk back now?"

Nepeta looked over at Kanaya, waiting for her approval before she returned the milk. "Kanaya?"

Kanaya shrugged. "Good enough." 

"It's catisfactory." The milk was returned to Sollux without further issue. "For meow."

Sollux swiped it from her and placed it on the edge of his tray, as far away from Nepeta as possible. 

"Don't ever fuck with my milk again." He sneered at her. 

"Who's fucking with Sollux's milk?" Terezi asked as she plopped down next to Sollux and grabbed the milk off his tray. "That's my job." 

She took a long swig of it as Sollux gaped at her in horror. "Terezi, no! Why!?" 

Terezi wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "That's revenge for eating my homework yesterday, you ass." 

"I'm sorry, what happened yesterday?"

"I only ate half of it, you could have still turned it in for points or asked for more time to redo it or some shit!" 

"Excuse me, but what teacher in their right mind is going to believe that my friend ate my homework? A pet, maybe, but a person? Someone who's capable of actual thought? No one's going to believe that. And do you know how long that god damn homework took me? Hours. It took me hours, Sollux, because in case you haven't noticed, I'm fucking blind. I have to get the stupid problems read to me by my computer, and then I have to state my answer as clearly as possible into the voice command thing which sometimes doesn't translate my words correctly so I have to say it again and enunciate very slowly and it's fucking awful and time consuming. And then you just ate it! What the fuck kind of person does that, Sollux? What. The. Fuck." 

"Why don't you just get one of those keyboards with braille printed on it?" 

"Some of those are really expensive!" Terezi insisted, slamming her fist on the table. Everything on her tray shook. "And it's not a necessity given that I have voice command on all this stuff for free. It’s just extra time consuming. It's usually fine unless some asshole eats my homework." 

She leveled a glare in Sollux's direction. He shrank back silently so she wouldn't notice the slight shift away from her. "Kanaya, now would be a great time for you to introduce your new friend again." 

Kanaya leaned over the table and poked Terezi's hand to get her attention. She turned her head and looked over to Kanaya. "You brought someone over, Kanaya?" 

"Yes. Terezi, this is-" 

"Wait, wait wait wait wait wait!" Someone shouted as they ran over. 

The sound of rushing footsteps was immediately accompanied by another set of quick feet. Everybody looked to see Feferi and Aradia running over to the table, trays of food grasped firmly in their hands as they elbowed their way through the crowd. Feferi got there first and slammed her tray down next to Nepeta before collapsing into a chair. She was out of breath. "Don't say....anyfin...yet. I want to hear all...aboat this." "What took mew so long to get here, Fefurry?" 

"Biology ran later than usual." Aradia answered for her. She took a seat next to Rose. "Hi, I'm Aradia." 

"It only hook longer because someone didn't want to dissect a frog." Feferi butted in before Rose could give her name. She rolled her eyes.  
"That someone was you. You didn't want to dissect the frog." Aradia replied. She opened her milk carton and gave the food on her plate an experimental nudge with her fork. "I just asked for a new partner." 

"Which made the class take longer." 

"You're the one who got to squeamish to make a single incision, Feferi." Aradia poked her food again. "If anything made the class drag on, it was that. Does anyone know what this is supposed to be?" 

"No, but I'll gladly trade you my crab salad sandwich for whatever the fuck it is." Karkat offered, holding out a poorly made sandwich wrapped in cellophane. 

Terezi raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't eat crab salad." 

"I don't. Shit's nasty." Karkat replied. "Seafood always tastes like the bottom of whatever rotted mercury barrel you scraped it off from, and in this case the thing was fed that exact same shit while living on that flat, molding surface and then was ran through a grinder, shell and all, and slathered in mayonnaise and some other shit I can't describe and squished between two pieces of soggy white bread. I guess Kankri's still pissed at me." 

"There's a cupcake in my bag." Nepeta said, pulling it out of her lunch bag to show everyone.  
Karkat turned his bag over to dump out whatever was left in case he also had a cupcake and somehow missed it. Nothing came out except an ice pack to keep the sandwich cold. 

"This is favoritism."

"Obviousflea." 

"Let's be real here for a second, KK," Sollux replied with a snort, "who wouldn't favor Nep over you?" 

"Fuck you." Karkat sneered back at him. He crushed his paper bag into a ball and threw it at Sollux's head. He ducked, and the ball flew off somewhere into the cafeteria, never to be seen again. 

"Fuck me all you want, but it's not going to win my vote on this one. Out of team V-L, Nepeta wins, hands down." 

Karkat turned to Aradia in an attempt to ignore Sollux and force the subject to drop. "Aradia, are we trading food or not?" 

Karkat brandished the sandwich out to her, and Aradia stared at it, considering it carefully before shrugging. "Sure, why not." 

She slid her tray across the table and accepted the sandwich. As she unwrapped the cellophane from around it, she added a casual, "And Nepeta's my favorite, by the way." 

"Alright, that's two for Nepeta and zero for our local rage ball." Sollux announced. "Everybody cast your votes for which is the better sibling, friend, and all around person." 

Feferi raised her hand. "I like Nepeta! No offense, katfish, but you're too crabby for my taste." 

"Blow me, Fef." 

"Sea! You're proving my point, you sour octopus."

"I also prefer Nepeta," Terezi volunteered, "sorry, but if it comes down to picking between the two of you, then I'm going to have to choose her. She's really fun to hang around and actually roleplays with me, unlike you, Karkat." 

Equius walked over to the table, sweaty and juggling armloads of milk cartons.

"Equius, what the furrick?" Nepeta said, eyeing the pile of milk cartons he’d dumped on the table.

"You can't drink all of those," Kanaya warned, "you'll die." 

"I'm not going to drink all of them right now, that would just be silly." He unzipped his backpack and swept half of his milk hoard into it. "The rest is for later." 

Rose's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Aren't you worried about it puncturing inside your bag and ruining your things? Or the milk getting warm, at the very least?" 

Equius shook his head. "I prefer it that way." 

Rose wrinkled her nose, but said nothing more.  
"Well, we obviously don't have to ask Horsefuck McHotmilk over here who he likes better." Karkat grumbled. 

"Nepeta." Everybody except for Rose replied, nodding. She was clearly uncertain about what was going on here, so she just sat and watched.

"Then that just leaves Kanaya and Rose or whatever the hell your name is." Sollux replied.  
All eyes turned to the both of them. 

Rose cleared her throat. "I abstain." 

Sollux turned to Terezi, who shrugged. "She's new here, I'll allow it." 

Everyone's gazes shifted over to Kanaya. Out of all the eyes on her, Karkat's felt the heaviest. Mostly because he realized that this was the last straw for him, and he was so hopeful because really if anyone was going to pick him over Nepeta, it would be Kanaya, right? They'd been best friends for years, of course she would choose him. 

But then again... 

"Nepeta."

Everyone let out a collective breath. Karkat groaned and laid his face on the table.

"Et tu, Kanaya? Really?"

"I'm afraid so. I like you, Karkat, but given the circumstances Nepeta is clearly the superior option." 

Nepeta poked him in the shoulder. “If kit helps cat all, you’re my favorite brother.”

Karkat made an indecipherable noise and patted Nepeta’s arm.

“Do you want half of my cupcake?”

Karkat lifted his head off the table and nodded. Nepeta divided her cupcake carefully with a plastic knife she’d gotten from Feferi and handed half over to Karkat.

“Fuck, no wonder everyone likes you more than me.” Karkat sighed. “I like you more than me, too.”

“I feel the same.” Nepeta admitted with a curt nod. “But that’s because I have good self esteem.”

“Speaking of “self esteem”,” Aradia interrupted, “has anyone seen Vriska?”

Come to think of it, there was a severe lack of Vriska present at this table. Not that Kanaya was complaining, in hindsight not having her abrasive, self absorbed friend/middle school crush present. This was more than enough.

“She went off to get lunch with Gamzee, Tav, and Eridan.” Terezi explained. “Knowing them, they’ll probably end up skipping the rest of the day.”

Rose glanced around the already crowded table. “There are usually more people here?”

“Yes.” Kanaya nodded. “Four more to be exact.”

“Oh? And what are they like?” She asked. “Better I know now so I’m well prepared when I meet them.”

Okay, hold it right fucking there,” Karkat interrupted between bites of cupcake, “we still don’t know jackshit about you, Rose. Maybe you should dole out some information of your own before you expect us to just pass all of these personal details out like last year’s moldy Halloween candy.”

“Okay, I suppose that’s only fair.” Rose pushed her now empty tray away so she could place her elbows on the table in front of her. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, fuck.” He stared down at his tray and poked at the remainder of his lunch with a fork. “I can’t think of any questions right off the fucking bat because I don’t know you and also I don’t give half a shit, so why don’t you just give us a short introduction and we’ll go from there.”

“Rose, you don’t have to-”

“No, it’s okay.” Rose waved Kanaya’s concern away with one hand. “As previously established, I’m Rose Lalonde. I’m a junior, as I assume are the rest of you because I recognize some of you from class. I play the violin in the school’s orchestra, I like fantasy novels involving strange monsters and wizards, and I have a cat. Any questions?”

“What’s your cat’s name?” Nepeta asked.

“Jaspers.” Rose dug her phone out of her pocket. “Would you like to see a picture of him?”

“Yes!” Nepeta leaned over the table so she could get a good look at Rose’s phone. “Aw, he’s so cute!”

“Thank you, I think so, too.” 

“I have a cat, too!” Nepeta replied excitedly, taking her phone out of her sweatshirt pocket. “Here’s a picture of him!”

“What a sweet cat!” Rose said as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. “What’s their name?”

“Pounce.” She grinned. “Pounce de Leone.”

Rose snorted. “That’s the best name I’ve ever heard.”

“Thanks!”

The bell rang, and everyone stood up almost simultaneously. The cacophony of chairs scraping across the linoleum floor made Kanaya clench her teeth. If this weren’t a daily occurrence, she was certain the noise would have caused her head to bloom with ache. 

Kanaya and Rose walked side by side over to the trash cans and threw out everything left on their trays. 

“Well,” Rose said, “that was certainly interesting.”

“I’m sorry.”

“About what?” She laughed. “I was being genuine. It was definitely an interesting lunch. I just wish we’d had more time for discussion. I never did get to hear about your friends that weren’t present today, Kanaya. That I do regret.”

Rose looked at Kanaya out of the corner of her eye. She was smiling, and Kanaya couldn’t sense a single hint of disappointment hidden beneath it. She wasn’t lying. Somehow, she’d met Kanaya’s friends and enjoyed the experience. 

Interesting.

Well, Kanaya supposed, there was a first time for everything. 

“They’re an interesting bunch.” She admitted. “Especially those who weren’t present today. I won’t get into too much detail about them because we only have so much time in this hallway, but one of them is a juggalo and the other is a frequent participant in civil war reenactments.”

“I’m sorry, I think I must have misheard you.” Rose said. “Either that or the words “juggalo” and “civil war reenactor” just left your lips on the same breath.”

“No, you heard me correctly, that’s definitely what I said.” Kanaya confirmed. “Though if I’m being honest with you, they’re more acquaintances than actual friends.”

“Even so, that’s a very strange and intriguing group you associate yourself with. Which makes me wonder…” Rose turned around to face Kanaya, grinning. “What sort of weird interest is keeping you glued to this group of odd individuals. What are you hiding from me, Kanaya?”

The only thing Kanaya was hiding was the way her face warmed at the sight of her smile. “If you were really interested in knowing, you would do,d out for yourself, wouldn’t you?” She replied. “Who’s to say I would tell you the truth?”

Rose’s smile faded, and she nodded gravely. “You bring up a good point, Kanaya. Clearly this is something I’m going to have to investigate on my own during the course of our friendship.”

Friendship. So they were definitely friends now. Kanaya smiled to herself, feeling accomplished in her gain. 

“At any rate,” Rose continued, “I definitely need to meet your acquaintances tomorrow. You’ve really piqued my interest, Kanaya.”

Kanaya stopped in the classroom’s doorway. “So does that mean-”

“That I’ll be sitting at lunch with you again? Possibly, yes.” Rose gave her one last cryptic glance before she walked into the classroom. “We’ll see.”

Kanaya followed her in and sat down. As class started, she was unable to make herself focus on the task before her. 

Every interaction she’d had with Rose to this point had still managed to yield her nothing in terms of new information. But what Kanaya could say for certain was that she liked Rose. And, on some level that may or may not be the same, Rose liked her back.

Kanaya smiled. Today went surprisingly well.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know the circumstances in this chapter are kind of weird, but I promise they'll be explained as the story progresses, I promise. 
> 
> Again, thanks for reading this and I hope you liked it!


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